This is The Sound of Silence second image.  This artwork shows the evolution in a style that allows the music to leave the inside the dimensions of the canvases. Looking back you can see these changes from my first artworks  that started out using a  signal canvas, then multiple canvases, and then many canvases that followed the music.  Currently I am looking for methods to hold the music in place, and that is about it. The rectangle shape similar to a musical staff,  may not disappear from these artworks,  but its relevance in these painting has diminished for years. In this artwork I am drifting even further away from such classic artworks as these two favorites of mine, Thunder Road, and Hallelujah.

I am also seeing myself moving more in the direction that the music I chose to paint has to be music that I truly enjoy.  When I paint I listen to music.  Painting music without music, never happens.  When I consider that, it may be by painting artworks I have the needed excuse to listen to my favorite music.

Lately, to an extent greater than usual,  I have found myself creating unique Playlists for the music that I am painting.  As I have done somewhat in the past,  I search out as many versions of the music, live and studio, that I can find,  by the artist that attracted me to the music. But lately to create these Playlist I have added other artists that have cover versions of the music.  Finally,  to add variety to playlist I add in from my collection other music by the artist the drew me to the music. These Playlist then make gives me a better understanding, and connection to the music that I am painting. Now, when I look back into the past I know I have done some commission artworks that I did not enjoy the music that much.  I would listen to the music only occasionally to keep the artwork on track, and then return to  the music that I loved.  This trend of creating a Playlist for each artwork I am starting to see that I am changing my approach to doing commission artworks.

For example,  I recently received an offer for a commission for a song by REO Speedwagon. I agreed to check it out, for the music was not familiar to me. I listen to it. I hated it. I then listen to the other music of REO Speedwagon,  to see if I could create a Playlist. I found a few good pop songs, but beyond them there was not enough music that I could add to amount to much of a Playlist.  As it happened, I never needed to create a REO Speedwagon song list for the commission faded away without any words being said.  That situation enlightened me.  I really do not want to do any music that I do not truly enjoy listening to.  Although, I am sure I can paint a great song, without a great playlist, and I know I  still want to  do some paid work,  it is true that the reason that I paint music is because of my passion for music.  To compromise would hurt his art. This art cannot ever be compromised by money.  Instead this art is about painting great music, that offers a wonderful adventure for the dreamer that is this boy.

Most of my playlist have been fairly small numbers.  For The Sound of Silence I have an unusually large playlist mix of 148 songs of Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon. For the previous artwork, Under Pressure, I created an exceptional playlist that grew to 175 songs my David Bowie and Queen.

This second image has an interesting story, about what happen to the canvas.  If you compare this image with the first image looking especially close at the right hand panel you will see a big difference. That came about because of an accident.  When I can go no further with the background,  because I have no idea how the music will look in comparison,  I stop and turn to placing in the music. What happened was that in the process of placing and gluing down the music flow, I of course now create my music out of wood,  I discovered the next day that one of my notes had somehow slide out-of-place, out of the flow. I tried to gently lift the misplaced note off of the canvas, but it would not budge. I tried to work it free with a pallet knife.  That did not work. Finally, I tried to carefully work a knife between the canvas and the wood. Of course what I was trying to do was impossible.  The canvas was firmly attached to the wood, and I ended up cutting a big hole in the right panel.

Stunned and lost where my first feelings, follow quickly by what now.  I decided I took another 15 by 30 inch panel, primed it, three times, removed the  damaged right panel, drilled two holes and reconnected the still good left panel with an empty bright white canvas. The next night I than copied,  the best as I could, my complicated paint pattern By the end of the evening I finished the left panel background. The one advantage I had with the clean slate with the right panel, and left panel painted with the music in place,  is that I could  check the direction the artwork was heading.  I decided I did not like what I saw,  and easily changed the style I would do to the new right panel, which involved deepening the colors and the contrast of the stripping. I then worked those improvements into the left panel. Finally, by working each panel back-en-forth I then was able to bring these two canvases back into harmony.  My take is out of every set back or adversity, there comes opportunities to improve, that can overcome the cost of the loss.

Scott Von Holzen